“Wink at the car wash”, Acrylic on panel, 2013. Image courtesy of the gallery

“Great expanse”, Acrylic on panel, 2013. Image courtesy of the gallery

No Accidents is an intriguing name for work whose creamy application seems characterized by an excessive amount of paint. Clean is far from anything we can imagine in the making of this work. It’s applied with smudgy ease and a kind of slow motion playfulness. Clean Title, No Accidents is the recent show by Joe Reihsen, the Minnesota born California educated painter at Anat Ebgi gallery.

“Can you tell me how to get to Newport”, Acrylic on panel, 2013. Image courtesy of the gallery

Reihsen’s work is soft and dreamy without drifting into the world of carelessness. The paint feels elevated as it coats over what looks like Xerox copy marks or a photograph. The works are on panel, significantly smaller in size to other paintings by Reihsen seen at Anat Ebgi’s space. Optics and illusion are at play in the work, but what brings you back down to earth is the gentleness found within his pastels. These works are experiments and explain to us that experiments can be just as conclusive as anything else.

“We shared encouraging smiles”, Acrylic on panel, 2013. Image courtesy of the gallery

Anat Ebgi’s gallery is tucked next to LAX Art across the street from Sam Freeman on the strip of La Cienega Blvd. Reihsen’s show runs April 13 – May 25, 2013 and is open from Tuesday – Saturday 11- 6pm. For more information visit here.

-Contributed by Hailey Loman